Hoop or Opportunity

Last night I attended an organizational meeting presented by a couple of individuals from HJ & Associates, a small accounting firm that operates in Salt Lake City.  A lot of the material covered was nothing new as it was a presentation on the merits of a college education and the doors that it can open.  They also discussed things like developing your own personal brand and discovering and pursuing your passion.

But one of the things that really stuck out most was a statement that made me think of the various requirements associated with the acquisition of a college degree and whether those requirements are seen as hoops or opportunities.

Looking back, I wish now that I had had the wisdom to have seen these requirements as the latter rather than the former.  Doing so might have provided some motivation to have done better in certain classes that I saw, at the time, as irrelevant and/or unnecessary.  Much of my attitude was comprised of the level of interest my professor was able to garner with the presentation of their course material.  The professors that were able to make their courses engaging made it much easier to earn a good grade that those that felt like some form of punishment for my mere existence. 

But that holds true for all of us.  It is easy to do well in the courses that we find interesting; while we have to drag ourselves by our ears to fully capitalize on those classes that weren’t as interesting.  The things we aren’t interested in are seen as hoops that we have to jump through in order to reach or destination.  Our efforts may not be as wholehearted when we see a requirement as something we have to do rather than something we want to do.

So the question becomes, how can I turn hoops into opportunities?  How can I see this task of ‘something I really don’t want to’ do as stepping-stone that will bring me one step closer to my goal?  I think the greatest key is knowing what that ultimate goal is.  If you don’t have a destination, how can you possibly know what direction you need to go?  If you don’t know the desired end, you cannot establish a plan to make it come to pass.  So know your passion, know what drives you, know where you want to go, who you want to be, and you’re half way there.

You then only have to worry about the execution of the plan.  The hoop has now become an opportunity to bring you closer to goal as you utilize your passion to drive you forward.

I presently have an economics course that I have been having a really hard time staying engaged in.  In the past, this has been an immense challenge for me, and I have had to retake the class.  I don’t want to repeat this pattern.  The class focuses on international trade, and where I have an interest in international business, this class will undoubtedly provide insight into how I can help businesses foster growth through trade.  It’s simply a matter of turning economic theory into practical applications where I can see how this knowledge will benefit companies I may work for in the future.

What hoop can *you* turn into an opportunity?